The Scottish Premier League has unwittingly extended the pantomime season. And to the division's credit, it is quite a feat to come up with a reconstruction plan which enrages so many people in one fell swoop.

If the SPL's chairman and chief executive – more of their errant ways to come later – had their way, a vote ratifying the move from 12 to 10 top-flight teams would take place on 17 January. Within the past four days, that prospect has become as likely as segregation being abolished at Old Firm games.

The topic of how successfully to reform Scotland's top flight was a rather dull one until this week. Details of talks held at Hampden Park between representatives of all 12 current SPL members have gradually leaked out, leaving supporters somewhere between baffled and angry.

Through it all, Neil Doncaster, the SPL's chief executive, has maintained a stunningly bullish stance over the likelihood of 10 teams making up the league from the onset of season 2012-13. Doncaster is either arrogant, blind to the opinions of his own member clubs or trying desperately to adopt a strong public persona in the face of widespread discontent.

Supporters don't want a 10-team league, that much has been made abundantly clear. Of a Supporters Direct survey, 88% said as much. Therefore, if Doncaster ever attempts to point out that the SPL take the views of fans into realistic consideration, onlookers can be forgiven a smile.

What is correct is that a move to 16 or 18 teams is too financially damaging – owing to the television value of Old Firm games – to be considered. However, a retention of 12 teams, or a jump to 14, are perfectly valid.

It remains surprising that so many people apparently believe the basic make-up of the SPL is so pertinent to the country's current and many football problems. The reality is, and has been for a considerable time now, that the content of the league is the key issue, not its size. Supporters continue to drift away, leaving the depressing sight of empty stadiums, because of overpriced, poor fare, not how many teams form leagues.

But since this theme appears no sign of disappearing, it must be addressed. Four clubs – Hearts, Inverness, Dundee United and Kilmarnock – have made their reservations over a 10-team scenario perfectly clear this week. And with good reason; here the SPL is asking for support over a format which would see promotion and relegation play-offs thereby offering a 33.3% chance of demotion. Clubs, already operating in a tight financial environment, would be writing suicide notes by supporting it. There is no evidence at all that a 10-side league would improve standards. In fact, evidence points to the contrary given the increase of a fear factor.

David Longmuir, the head of the Scottish Football League, claimed with a straight face that the biggest issue he faces just now relates to the reschedule of postponed games. If the SPL has its way, the SFL will either cease to exist or radically change in format.

Play-offs may work in England but in leagues more than double the size of what the SPL wants to introduce. They are unnecessary north of the border and a blatant attempt to raise guaranteed end-of-season cash; a simple two-up, two-down system should be adopted. With the greatest of respect, it is debatable how much monetary value there would be in, for example, a Hamilton v Ross County play-off anyway.

A plan to increase the size of the SPL to 14 teams, heavily mooted to clubs as well as the media, mysteriously disappeared around the time that Henry McLeish published his hard-hitting review of Scottish football. The cause for that should be fully explained because the 14-team format was perfectly reasonable to many.

The recommendation which has been put forward stems from a six-team SPL strategy group. There is, in the words of the league chairman Ralph Topping, "no Plan B". Having failed to convene a meeting between October and January, Plan A was haphazardly put before the other six teams a fortnight before an 11-1 vote was required to see it through.

Topping, in yet another bizarre public utterance, earlier said a successful vote was "odds on". This man has reached a prominent position within a British bookmaking firm, as well. Now, he and Doncaster must be seeking a way to delay that vote, or face huge embarrassment. The Scottish Football Association's fresh performance and youth league models cannot be fully implemented until this unseemly mess is sorted out.

Motherwell are known to be wavering and partly of a mind to support the "rebel" four clubs. St Mirren, a member of the strategy group, haven't exactly poured cold water on its proposals but made a public statement yesterday which at least illustrated they are unconvinced.

At Monday's meeting, the Rangers chief executive, Martin Bain, said those members of the strategy group should fully endorse its findings and keep individual opinions to one side. That was contested at the time by Stewart Gilmour, the St Mirren chairman.

The same meeting heard how the value of television deals was likely to improve with a move to 10 teams. No figures were available to back this up. Apart from the fact it would be a bizarre negotiating tactic in any case, are we really to expect that broadcasters would commit to handing over more cash for a product which is more widely unpopular than what exists already?

The blunt truth is that Scottish football is doing well to hold on to the commercial revenue it already has. Suggestions that a reshaping of one or all divisions will prompt a vast influx of cash have no foundation in economic reality.

One possible way to pacify those who object to cutting the SPL's size would be to alter revenue distribution. As things stand, the top two clubs collect 32% of commercial income. The possibility of splitting some of that, in handing out a mere £125,000 extra per club, was mooted on Monday but swiftly swatted aside. The Old Firm can point back to the McLeish report, which states that 56% of SPL crowds over the last decade were generated by Rangers and Celtic alone, as a reference point of their value.

During Monday's talks Topping reminded clubs of the work Doncaster has done since moving into his role and laid out how the chief executive's own position was closely linked to reform. That was perceived by many as a veiled warning to support these fundamentally flawed reconstruction plans. Given what a mess this episode has turned into, Topping's words may come back to haunt him.